Heating systems employ various methods to control the temperature and other such variables of components within the system. The temperatures of these components are usually regulated within a particular range in order to maintain safe operation. Two such components that require regulation are heat exchangers of furnaces and the water inside a pressurized hot water boiler. In such safety-related components, redundant sensors may be used in order to provide greater confidence that the individual sensors are operating properly. Two or more such sensors may reduce the probability that the heating control system is reading an incorrect temperature, however, the proper functionality of the additional sensors are still not known with any greater confidence than the original sensor.
Temperature measurement is important in many such processes. A common method of temperature measurement uses thermocouple transducers that output an EMF in response to a temperature gradient across two dissimilar materials, typically metals. It is well known, however, that thermocouples degrade over time due to chemical and metallurgical changes in the composition of the materials. Various thermal sensors and detectors such as thermistors, platinum resistance elements, and other types of temperature sensors are also utilized in many heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) applications.
Most temperature sensors used in these HVAC applications, whether used in industrial, commercial, or residential markets, eventually suffer from some form of serious degradation and/or failure of the sensor. Such degradation or failure modes of temperature detectors, for example, include thermal degradation, metal fatigue, and corrosion, chemical and mechanical changes, which may render the sensor inoperable or induce a system failure.
During the use of thermocouples, for example, several forms of degradation take place in the thermocouple circuit including chemical, metallurgical, and mechanical changes in the materials and elements or devices of the circuit. Such changes may be accompanied by a shift in the resistivity of the thermoelement, thereby indicating a false temperature measurement.
Heating applications likely produce the greatest potential for sensor failures, because the sensor is particularly susceptible to extremes of thermal degradation and chemical changes. These sensors may include temperature, pressure, flow, and medium presence sensors, and others such as may be used in furnaces and boilers. The exposed portion of the sensor is often the hottest portion of the measurement circuit and may therefore be exposed to the harshest conditions. These HVAC sensors may also be exposed to processes that increase the likelihood of changes in the electrical properties of the sensor or cause a complete system failure.
In boiler applications, for example, temperature, pressure, flow, and medium presence detection may be used, wherein the failure of a temperature sensor or an associated low water level cutoff detector may cause a boiler malfunction or failure. Thus, the failure of such boiler sensors poses a problem. In furnace applications, the temperature sensors and/or limit detectors used in a heat exchanger of a furnace may also reach very high temperatures, and cause overheating conditions that could cause the system to fail. Accordingly, a fail-safe temperature sensor, and/or a fail-safe low water level cut-off detector and/or a pressure sensor would be desirable to avoid such problems.
For design, manufacturing, and applications reasons, the HVAC sensors discussed above are generally individually fabricated, packaged and mounted. However, the use of these numerous individual sensors also requires more system mounting difficulties, additional wiring and added complexity in support of the remaining portion of the control system. Such additional support components and circuitry may include related relays, power supplies, and microprocessors that increase the overall cost and complexity of the system.
In many applications, however, several specific sensors are commonly used as a set. For example, in the case of boiler heating systems, a boiler water temperature sensor is usually accompanied by a low water cutoff detector, which senses the presence of the water (or another such medium) when strategically placed at the low water level of the boiler. If the water falls below this level, the system is typically shut-down until more water is added, thereby immersing the sensor again. In addition, pressure sensors and/or pressure relief valves are usually included in boiler systems to monitor and/or relieve over-pressure conditions such as in the event the boiler overheats producing steam and an excessive pressure build-up. A pressure sensor is useful to monitor for such failsafe conditions, particularly if the water falls below the low water level.
Accordingly, for fail-safe readings and operations, improved signal to noise ratio, reduced size and cost, mounting and system simplicity reasons, there is a need for a fail-safe sensor of a monitoring system that incorporates multiple temperature and/or one or more other process variables such as pressure and medium presence detection functions together with the associated signal processing circuits within a single sensor housing, thermal well or a combination thereof.